PA PA - Richard Wesley Wheeler, 34, murdered, Nockamixon Twp., Sept. 1980 *perpetrators deceased*

[ifindedout]

The Bucks County DA's Office declared this 1980 murder case solved on March 31, 2023:

Case solved: Bucks DA says man, under orders, killed another man in 1980

Investigators with the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and the Pennsylvania State Police have identified the man who shot and killed 34-year-old Richard Wesley Wheeler in September 1980.

www.wfmz.com

Peter Eric Marschner, who changed his name after fleeing from authorities, shot Wheeler four times and hid his body on the wooded property off Center Hill Road, approximately a mile south of the intersection with Kintner Hill Road, in Nockamixon Township, the DA's office said.

Wheeler’s body was located on Sept. 18, 1980.

The investigation, pieced together by Bucks County Detective David Hanks and Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Christopher Cleveland, determined Marschner killed Wheeler under orders from another man, Leslie Schmidt, because Schmidt felt Wheeler mishandled a large sum of money Schmidt had entrusted Wheeler to manage, according to the news release.

Both Marschner and Schmidt have since died - Marschner in 2006 and Schmidt in 2022.

 

[Ozoner]

LE was a little too slow this time. If they had solved the case a couple of years earlier, they could have charged Schmidt.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Following a cold case investigation that uncovered twists and turns seemingly out of a crime novel or action film — including prisoner escapes, yacht thefts, name changes and a drug manufacturing lab — authorities say they have identified the man who shot and killed 34-year-old Richard Wesley Wheeler in September 1980, in Nockamixon Township.

Peter Eric Marschner, who changed his name after fleeing from authorities, shot Wheeler four times and hid his body on a wooded property off Center Hill Road, approximately a mile south of the intersection with Kintner Hill Road, in Nockamixon, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said. Wheeler’s body was located on Sept. 18, 1980.

The investigation, pieced together by Bucks County Detective David Hanks and Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Christopher Cleveland, determined Marschner killed Wheeler under orders from another man, Leslie Schmidt, because Schmidt believed Wheeler mishandled a large sum of money Schmidt had entrusted Wheeler to manage.

Both Marschner and Schmidt have since passed away — Marschner in 2006 and Schmidt in 2022. The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office considers this case solved due to the deaths of all the participants in the murder. The DA’s office said the victim’s family said it is grateful this crime is now solved.

In what the DA’s office called an “incredible piece of investigative work,” the investigators built a timeline of events that ultimately solved this cold case. The final piece to this mystery was accomplished earlier this year, the DA’s office said Friday, when investigators were able to track down the shooter.

The investigation found that the three men — Wheeler, Marschner and Schmidt — met while incarcerated in Danbury Federal Prison in Danbury, Conn.

Bucks detectives, state police solve 1980 Nockamixon murder

Following a cold case investigation that uncovered twists and turns seemingly out of a crime novel or action film — including prisoner escapes, yacht thefts, name changes and a drug manufacturing …

buckscountyherald.com